Xi Jinping and Trump hold meeting in Busan

Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Donald Trump of the United Stats have finished their talks in South Korea’s Busan.

The talks lasted for 100 minutes, China’s Central Television reported.

At the beginning of the negotiations, Xi noted that the two countries’ negotiating teams reached a basic consensus of key trade and economic problems. Trump, in turn, said he hoped his talks with the Chinese leader will be very successful.

As they and their delegations sat opposite each other at the negotiating table, Xi noted that he and Trump had not met for several years – their last summit was in 2019 – but had spoken on the phone and exchanged letters since Trump returned to the White House.

"A few days ago … our two economic and trade teams reached basic consensus on addressing our respective major concerns and made encouraging progress. I am ready to continue working with you to build a solid foundation for China and the US," Xi said.

The Chinese leader noted that Xi that he and Trump “don’t always see eye to eye with each other,” adding that it was “normal for world’s two biggest economies to have frictions now and then”.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty summit in Oskara in 2019.

Xi arrived in South Korea to take part in the 32nd informal Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the South Korean city of Gyeongju. He is being accompanied by Director of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Cai Qi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Vice Premier He Lifeng.

The Chinese foreign ministry said ahead of the meeting that the leaders will exchange views on issues of bilateral relations and other topics of mutual interest.

The U.S. president said earlier that he hopes that this meeting will yield an agreement on conditions for further trade between the countries. He also said that he intended to lower additional tariffs on Chinese goods, which had been introduced over fentanyl smuggling.